Hammer toy



Aug. 30, 1955 J. MORRISON 2,716,309

HAMMER TOY Filed Oct. 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 30, 1955 MQRRISON 2,716,399

HAMMER TOY Filed Oct. 25, P351 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent HAMMER TOY .lohn Morrison, F ranconia, N. H.

Application October 25, 1951, Serial No. 253,073

21 Claims. (Cl. 46-1) The present invention relates to an amusement and exercising device particularly adapted for use by very young children.

The place of the hammer toy in the juvenile toy field is very well established. Such toys, in which elements of different types are adapted to be hammered through an aperture, not only provide entertainment for their young users but also teach them to acquire manual dexterity. In addition, such toys present an opportunity for the child to exercise himself and to expend some of his excess energy in a constructive and self-improving manner.

One drawback of hammer toys as they have existed in the past is the comparatively monotonous nature of their operation. Merely driving a peg through a hole until the end of the peg hits the floor or falls out of the hole soon pails on the child, and hence the length of time during which a child will continuously use such a toy is quite limited.

Another drawback of this type of toy, particularly when very young infants are concerned, is the necessity for manual manipulation of the toy in order that the driven element may be properly presented for hammering. Either that element must first be manually positioned in the aperture through which it is to be driven, a task} which can be accomplished only with difficulty by the iniant, or else the entire assembly must be handled in some manner, such as being turned upside down, once the pegs have been driven through the holes, in order to re-present them for subsequent hammering.

Another drawback inherent in many of the toys or" this type is the fact that, in order to ensure that proper resistance to passage through the aperture will be exerted by the driven member over an extended period of time, the relative dimensions of the aperture and the driven member must difier to a marked degree. This results in such a high degree of resistance to motion of the element a through the aperture, at least when the toy is new, that a heavy hamer must be used and considerable hammering force must be exerted, both of which factors rule out the use of such toys by very young children. In addition, the degree of force required to hammer the elements through the apertures results in a considerable amount of noise which, while perhaps not disliked by the child, is extremely annoying to those in his vicinity. It may be noted at this point that the use of a heavy hammer with toys of this type has the additional disadvantage that it puts into childrens hands an implement with which considerable damage may be done to furniture and the like.

The present invention relates to a hammer toy which avoids all of the above disadvantages, and which is at tractive in appearance, novel in mode of operation and inexpensive to manufacture.

In order to ensure that the elements to be hammered through the aperture are readily positionable with respect to the aperture in advance of their being hammered therethrough, those elements are mounted on the ends of arms emanating from a rotor so positioned on the toy "ice that as the rotor and the arms rotate the elements carried by the arms are positioned sequentially over the aperture so that they can readily be hammered therethrough. The force involved in hammering a given element through the aperture will usually impart sufficient rotation to the rotor so that the next element will automatically be properly positioned. If, for some reason, that force should not be sufiicient, the aperture will itself cooperate with the element hammered therethrough so as to impart the necessary rotative impulse to the rotor. Thus the toy may be used for as long a time as is desired without requiring any manual manipulation. Moreover, manual movement of the rotor to bring a given element into position to be hammered through the aperture is simple in nature, and of a character such that it can readily be performed even by very young children.

The movement of the rotor caused by the hammering of an element through the aperture, and. the consequent swinging of the arms and elements carried thereby, adds a definite degree of visual interest to the operation of the device and, moreover, teaches the child an elementary form of cause and eiiect reasoning, the child soon learning that the rotation of the rotor which so fascinates him is brought about only when one of the elements carried by the rotor is forced through the aperture. Thus the childs mind is improved while he is entertained, and the entertainment causes him to play with the toy over longer periods of time, thus giving him further pracitcc in manual activity.

In the instant device the aperture through which the element is hammered is defined by a pair of members which are resiliently urged toward one another but which can readily spread apart when the element, which is larger than the space between the members, is hamered therebetween. In this way initial resistance to passage of the element through the aperture is retained at a fairly high level, but the maximum hammering force necessary is held within limits. Thus a small and light hammer may be employed, and the noise of hammering is greatly reduced. If further limitation of the noise is desired, the elements may be provided, on the surfaces which are adapted to be hit by the hammer, with an insert of cushioning material.

To the accomplishment of the above, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to a hammer toy structure as defined in the an pended claims and as described in this specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a three-quarter perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side cross sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, the element to be hammered through the aperture being shown in broken lines;

Figs. 4 through 6 are end cross sectional views taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2 and showing the position which the various parts assume during difiierent stages of passage of the element through the aperture;

Fig. 7 is a detail cross sectional view taken along the line 7-'7 of Fig. 2 but with the rotor rotated degrees in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 2;

and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to Fig. 2 but showing another embodiment of the invention.

The hammer toy of the present invention comprises a base plate 2 near one end of which a pair of spaced resilient struts 4 and 6 extend upwardly, those struts being here defined by wooden strips, the lower ends of which are received within apertures 3 and It respectively, in the base plate 2 and secured therein in any appropriate mannet, as by means of the nails 12 (see Figs. 4-6) or by means of adhesive (see Fig. 1). Members 14 and 16 are mounted on the upper ends of the struts 4 and 6 so as to project toward and opposite one another, at least partially bridging the space between the struts 4 and 6, these members taking the form of wooden plates secured to the struts 4 and 6 by means of nails 18 or any other suitable securing means. The edges of the members 14 and 16 which face one another are here shown as including a first projecting surface 20, a recessed area 22 having the configuration of an arc of a circle, and a second projecting surface 24. The first projecting surface 20 extends farther out from the strut 4 or 6 to which the plate is secured than does the second projecting surface 24. For purposes of appearance, and also in order to provide a positive stop limiting the relative positions of the members 14 and 16 when they are urged toward one another, the first projecting surfaces 20 preferably abut one another when the struts 4 and 6 are perpendicular to the base plate 2, as may best be seen from Figs. 1, 3 and 4. The recessed areas 22 and the second projecting surface 24 define between themselves a keyhole shaped aperture extending through and between the members 14 and 16, the Wide portion of that aperture being defined between the recessed areas 20 and the narrow portion thereof being defined between the second projecting surfaces 24, said second projecting surfaces 24 extending from the recessed areas 22 to corresponding sides 26 of the members 14 and 16. For purposes of rigidification, and in order to impart a more massive appearance to the toy, additional plates 28 and 30 may be secured between the struts 4 and 6 under the first projecting surfaces 20 but clear of the recessed areas 22 so as to partially close the space between the struts 4 and 6 at the rear of the toy.

A pair of rods 32 and 34 are mounted on the base plate 2 in front of the struts 4 and 6 and opposite the sides 26 of the members 14 and 16, the upper ends of those rods being provided with orifices 36 and 38 adapted to rotatably receive the ends of a shaft 40 on which a rotor is mounted. That rotor, in the form here disclosed, comprises a hub 42 fixed to the shaft 40 by the screw 44 so that both hub 42 and shaft 40 are simultaneously rotatable between the rods 32 and 34. A plurality of arms 46, 48 and 50 are mounted on the hub 42, as by being received in apertures 46', 48' and 50' therein, so as to project out radially therefrom, each of these arms carrying a ball 52, 54 or 56 respectively at its extremity. The length of the arms 46, 48 and 50 are such that as the rotor rotates each of the balls 52, 54 and 56 are moved into position above and in registration with the wide portion of the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16 as defined by the recessed areas 22. The radius of the balls 52, 54 and 56 is somewhat greater than the radius of the arcs defining the recessed areas 22, so that when the members 14 and 16 are positioned close to one another, with their first projecting surfaces 20 abutting or nearly so, the balls 52, 54 and 56 are larger than the wide portion of the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16. The width of the arms 46, 48 and 50 is preferably less than the spacing between the second projecting surfaces 24, so that the arms are freely passable through the narrow portion of the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16, the arms 46, 48 and 50 thus playing no part in resisting passage through the aperture. However, this last feature is not essential, and the width of the arms 46, 48 and 50 may, if desired, be sufliciently great so as to resist passage through the narrow portion of the aperture.

The members 14 and 16 are resiliently urged toward one another and maintained in the position shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 through the inherent resiliency of the struts 4 and 6. When in this position, the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16 is sufliciently small so that when a ball such as the ball 52 is positioned on top of said aperture, it will not pass therethrough. However, when downward pressure is exerted on the ball 52, as by means of the hammer 58, the members 14 and 16 will be spread apart, the struts 4 and 6 resiliently bending outwardly, as is best shown in Fig. 5, to permit this action. The eifective size of the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16 is thus increased to a degree sufficient to permit the ball 52 to pass therethrough. The tapered character of the leading surface 60 of the ball 52 facilitates separation of the members 14 and 16 (see Fig.4).

Once the ball 52 has been hammered somewhat more than halfway through the aperture, the resilient force exerted on the members 14 and 16 by the distorted struts 4 and 6, which force tends to cause the members 14 and 16 to move together, will, by acting on the tapered trailing surfaces 62 of the ball 52 (see Fig. 6) have an inclined wedge action which will tend to forcibly eject the ball 52 downwardly out of the aperture. Hence, even if the force exerted by the hammer 58 on the ball 52 is insufficient to drive it all the way through the aperture, or is insuflicient to impart enough motion to the ball once it has passed through the aperture to cause the rotor to rotate an appreciable degree, the tendency of the members 14 and 16 to resume their normal closely spaced and preferably abutting position will impart such motion to the ball 52 and hence will ensure that the rotor will rotate sufiiciently so that the next ball 54 is positioned in close proximity to and in registration with the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16, thus permitting the hammering operation to be repeated.

It is obvious that the inclined wedge interaction between element and aperture, both when the element enters and leaves the aperture, could also be achieved if the aperture edges were tapered and the leading and trailing edges of the element were not.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, each of the balls 52, 54' and 56' are provided at the center of their trailing surfaces 62, those being the surfaces upon which the hammer 58 is adapted to act, with inserts 64 of some cushioning material, such as rubber, cork or the like, so that when the hammer S8 is applied thereto practically no noise will be produced.

The base plate 2 may be provided with an aperture 66 into which the handle of the hammer 58 may be inserted when the toy is not in use.

The manner of operation of the hammer toy of the present invention will in the main be apparent from the above description. The resilient yielding nature of the struts 4 and 6 so controls the frictional force which resists penetration of the aperture through and between the members 14 and 16 by the elements defined by the balls 52, 54 and 56 that said balls are quite readily hammerable through the aperture, thus permitting a light hammer 58 to be used and rendering the toy suitable for very young children whose strength will not permit them properly to manipulate a heavy hammer. Each time that a ball is hammered through the aperture the rotor will rotate, both because of the force exerted on the ball by the hammer and because of the inclined wedge type of interaction between the ball and the lower surfaces of the aperture as the members 14 and 16 move together. Hence the hammering produces rotation of the arms 46-50 and the balls 5256, which are usually gaily colored, thus attracting the interest of the child, entertaining him so that he will use the toy for longer periods of time, and instructing him by bringing him to appreciate the cause and effect relationship between his hammer and the movement of the rotor. Each time that a ball is hammered through the aperture another ball is presented for the next hammering operation, usually without requiring any further manual action, and even if manual manipulation is required it is of such an elementary nature as not to present any substantial element of frustration to the youthful user. The entire structure is simple, may be made of inexpensive materials and is at the same time extremely attractive.

While but two embodiments of the present invention have been here specifically described and illustrated, it will be apparent that many variations may be made therein within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1, A hammer toy comprising a frame, a pair of separable members oppositely mounted thereon so that surfaces thereof facing one another are resiliently urged toward one another, said facing surfaces of said members being normally comparatively closely spaced, each of said surfaces having opposing recessed areas together defining an aperture through and between said members the effective size of which is increased when said members are separated from one another, a rotor mounted above said base plate and having arms extending out therefrom the tips of which register with said aperture and the arms of which register with the facing surfaces of said members as said rotor rotates, said tips being larger than said aperture when said members are positioned comparatively close to one another, said members separating to permit the tips of said arms to be hammered through said aperture and said arms to pass between said facing surfaces, thereby permitting rotary motion of said rotor.

2. The hammer toy of claim 1, in which the lower portions of said recessed areas and the trailing edges of the tips of said arms have an inclined wedge type of interengagement, the resilient tendency of said members to come together thus forcibly ejecting said tips from said aperture after they have been hammered part way therethrough so as to rotate said rotor and to bring the next arm into position for its tip to be hammered through said aperture.

3. The hammer toy of claim 1, in which said tips comprise ball shaped elements larger than said aperture when said members are comparatively closely spaced.

4. The hammer toy of claim 1 in which the aperture between the facing surfaces of said plates comprises a wide portion communicating with a narrow portion which extends to a side of said plates toward said rotor, in which said arms are smaller than the narrow portion of said aperture when said members are comparatively closely spaced, thus being freely passable therethrough, and in which the tips of said arms are enlarged and are larger than the wide portion of said aperture when said members are comparatively closely spaced.

5. The hammer toy of claim 1, in which said tips are provided, on their trailing surface, with an insert of cushioning material, thus reducing the noise attendant upon the hammering of said tips through said aperture.

6. A hammer toy comprising a base, a pair of members supported above said base opposite one another and having surfaces extending toward one another but normally spaced from one another by a predetermined distance, said members being movably mounted on said base so as to be spreadable away from one another, thus increasing the distance between said surfaces, resilient means operative on said members to resist said spreading, a rotor mounted above said base and having arms extending out therefrom, portions of which arms pass through the space between said members as said rotor rotates, said arm portions being wider than the normal space between said members, each arm portion, as it engages said normally spaced members, being adapted to be hammered between said members, said members separating against the action of said resilient means as said arm portions pass therethrough.

7. The hammer toy of claim 6, in which the lower extremities of said member surfaces and the trailing surfaces of said arm portions have an inclined wedge-type of interengagement, the resilient tendency of said members to come together thus forcibly ejecting said tips from between said members after said tips have been hammered part way therethrough so as to rotate said rotor and bring the next arm into position for its portion to be hammered between said members.

8. The hammer toy of claim 6, in which said arm portions comprise ball-shaped elements larger in width than the normal spacing between said member surfaces.

9. The hammer toy of claim 6, in which said arm portions are provided, on their trailing surface, with an insert of cushioning material, thus reducing the noise attendant upon the hammering of said tips between said members.

10. A hammer toy comprising a base, a pair of members supported above said base opposite one another and having surfaces extending toward one another but normally spaced from one another by a predetermined distance, said members being movably mounted on said base so as to be spreadable away from one another, thus increasing the distance between said surfaces, resilient means operative on said members to resist said spreading, a rotor mounted above said base so as to rotate about an axis substantially in line with the space between said members and having arms extending out therefrom, portions of which arms pass through the space between said members as said rotor rotates, said arm portions being wider than the normal space between said members, each arm portion, as it engages said normally spaced members, being adapted to be hammered between said members, said members separating against the action of said resilient means as said arm portions pass therethrough.

ll. The hammer toy of claim 10, in which the lower extremities of said member surfaces and the trailing surfaces of said arm portions have an inclined wedge-type of interengagement, the resilient tendency of said members to come together thus forcibly ejecting said tips from between said members after said tips have been hammered part way therethrough so as to rotate said rotor and bring the next arm into position for its portion to be hammered between said members.

12. The hammer toy of claim 10, in which said arm portions comprise ballshaped elements larger in width than the normal spacing between said member surfaces.

13. The hammer toy of claim 10, in which said arm portions are provided, on their trailing surface, with an insert of cushioning material, thus reducing the noise attendant upon the hammering of said tips between said members.

14. A hammer toy comprising a base, a pair of spaced resilient supporting elements projecting upwardly therefrom, a pair of members carried by said supporting elements opposite one another and having surfaces extending toward one another but normally spaced from one another by a predetermined distance, the distance between said surfaces increasing when said members are further separated, the resiliency of said supporting elements opposing such further separation, a rotor mounted above said base and having arms extending out therefrom, portions of which arms pass through the space between said members as said rotor rotates, said arm portions being wider than the space between said members, each arm portion, as it engages said normally spaced members, being adapted to be hammered between said members, said members separating against the resilient action of said supporting elements as said arm portions pass therebetween.

15. The hammer toy of claim 14, in which the lower extremities of said member surfaces and the trailing surfaces of said arm portions have an inclined wedge type of interengagement, the action of said supporting elements in resiliently urging said members to come together thus forcibly ejecting said arm portions from between said members after said arm portions have been hammered part way therethrough so as to rotate said rotor and present the next arm portion into position to be ham mered between said members.

16. The hammer toy of claim 14, in which said arm portions comprise ball-shaped elements larger in width than the normal spacing between said member surfaces.

17. The hammer toy of claim 14, in which said arm portions are provided, on their trailing surface, with an insert of cushioning material, thus reducing the noise attendant upon the hammering of said tips between said members.

18. A hammer toy comprising a base, a pair of spaced resilient supporting elements projecting upwardly therefrom, a pair of members carried by said supporting elements opposite one another and having surfaces extending toward one another but normally spaced from one another by a predetermined distance, the distance between said surfaces increasing when said members are further separated, the resiliency of said supporting elements opposing such further separation, a rotor mounted above said base so as to rotate about an axis substantially in line with the space between said members and having arms extending out therefrom, portions of which arms pass through the space between said members as said rotor rotates, said arm portions being wider than the space between said members, each arm portion, as it engages said normally spaced members, being adapted to be hammered between said members, said members separating against the resilient action of said supporting elements as said arm portions pass therebetween.

19. The hammer toy of claim 18, in which the lowerextremities of said member surfaces and the trailing surfaces of said arm portions have an inclined wedge-type of interengagement, the action of said supporting elements in resiliently urging said members to come together thus forcibly ejecting said arm portions from between said members after said arm portions have been hammered part way therethrough so as to rotate said rotor and present the next arm portion into position to be hammered between said members.

20. The hammer toy of claim 18, in which said arm portions comprise ball-shaped elements larger in width than the normal spacing between said member surfaces.

21. The hammer toy of claim 18, in which said arm portions are provided, on their trailing surface, with an insert of cushioning material, thus reducing the noise attendant upon the hammering of said tips between said members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,348 Swirkal Aug. 14, 1951 

